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Wednesday 27 July 2011

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Leach or leech?

Hirudo medicinalis. Leeches for bloodletting                   Image via Wikipedia
Leach or leech?
Leach: verb – to dissolve by percolation; subject soil, etc, to the action of percolating water, which takes out soluble constituents; slowly deprive.
Leech: verb – to apply leeches to a patient in the cause of medical treatment; to drain of energy, resources; attach oneself like a leech, be parasitic.
A leech (noun) is a parasitic worm that sucks blood from its host.

‘The continuous rains had leached the soil of all goodness, so that it would no longer support a crop of any worth.’

‘Doctor Death decided that the only cure for his patient’s hysteria was to leech her on a daily basis, slowly draining her of what he considered was her bad blood.’

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